QI am a 78 year old female and I experience ringing in my ears all the time, everyday, non-stop. What causes the ringing and what can I do to help it go away?
ATinnitus is a persistent, chronic perception of ringing, blowing, hissing, whistling, pulsating or high and low pitched sounds, and other sounds in the ears or head when no external sound is present. Having tinnitus can be annoying, frightening, depressing and debilitating.
Tinnitus is a symptom not a disease. The mechanism that causes these sounds to be heard when there is no outside source for these noises is unknown.
In old age, age-related hearing loss of high pitch sounds is usually associated with tinnitus. Historically, people in this age group are told that they must learn to live with this condition. In patients with accompanied hearing loss, hearing aids can be given and can be of some help. The external sound therapies like tinnitus maskers are of some help in some patients but, unfortunately, they are not freely available in our country. In your case, the best way is to learn to live with this but you should get your hearing evaluation done and if there is any hearing loss you can use hearing aid, which may help you. Dr Mubasher Ikram
Aga Khan University
Hospital
QI am a 19 years old male. It often happens that when I suddenly standup from a sitting or squatting position, I feel dizzy. At times it is so intense that I have to hold on to something, so as not to fall over. A relative checked by BP and told me it was a ‘little’ lower than the normal range. Please help me out and define the possibilities of such a condition.
AThe problem that you are describing is called orthostatic hypotension, which means a fall in blood pressure of more than 10mm of mercury on standing up. When we stand up from a sitting or lying position, our blood goes to our legs (dependent part) due to the effect of gravity but our blood vessels contract to push blood up towards the brain.
Even a mild decrease in supply to the brain can cause a blackout. Occasionally, this system may lag behind a little, especially in people who have a problem with the system, such as old people, people with diabetes and hypertensive patients on vasodilator drugs that interfere with this system.
Normally, the body does not allow the BP to fall to a low level, so ‘low BP’ is not a common problem but many people are told that they have low BP.
This is not a right concept. Some people can have low level BP which is normal for them and needs no treatment. A few may complain of dizziness on standing up, especially after prolonged sitting or lying down and this can be controlled with care in getting up and routine leg exercises that your doctor can prescribe.
Special stockings can also be worn if orthostatic hypotension is demonstrated and no cause is found. Rarely, this symptom can present when there is a hormone problem in the body or there is ongoing fluid loss, for which a full medical check-up and treatment is warranted. It seems that you are having significant symptoms and if a drop in your BP to posture change has been documented, then you need to see your physician. Dr Aamir Hameed
Aga Khan University
Hospital
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